Mayor rejects deal for shared dispatching

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — A decision this week by Mayor Janet Sobkowicz has effectively ended the shared dispatch discussion and has at least one frustrated council member considering a run for her position.

Sobkowicz told the council Monday night that she would not sign off on a deal with Westwood that would combine the Westwood and Washington Township emergency dispatches.

Last month, the council directed Township Attorney Kenneth Poller to draft a resolution, which the governing body was to consider at its meeting Oct. 29. The meeting was canceled hours before superstorm Sandy made landfall.

Westwood delivered its five-year shared dispatch proposal to township officials in April, saying it would cost the township an average of $131,000 per year.

The borough planned to issue $140,000 in bonds for capital improvements and split that cost between the two municipalities on a per-capita basis.

Sobkowicz's authorization is needed on any new contract the township enters, and on Monday, the mayor said the choice to her was clear.

"We're going to stay in-house," Sobkowicz said. "There's no place like home."

Currently, Washington Township police officers man a dispatch desk operated out of police headquarters. Council members favored Westwood's merger proposal, saying it would have resulted in more officers on the beat, not sitting at a desk.

After the meeting, Sobkowicz said the proposed savings did not justify the possible reduction in services.

"The savings just is not there," Sobkowicz said, adding she's been crunching the numbers. "If we went with Westwood, the Police Department would be closed a good portion of the day. It's not worth closing the police station and reducing services to the residents."

The Township Council has spent the last three years considering a number of shared dispatch proposals, including one from Bergen County.

Council Vice President Joseph D'Urso was frustrated by the mayor's move, calling Sobkowicz a "dictator" at one point during the meeting.

"We've been trying to go after this the right way the last three years, and she's pretty adamant about not doing anything," D'Urso said after the meeting. "It's aggravating because [the mayor] doesn't respect the council's decisions on anything. I feel like we go nowhere with this form of government, and I am just wasting my time."

D'Urso said the township's strong mayor form of government ties the council's collective hands.

"The mayor can do whatever she wants," D'Urso said, before indicating he might seek the township's highest office. "Her term ends next year, so … we shall see."

D'Urso's council term also ends next year, he said.

Council President Richard Hrbek said the township must now move from the discussion, and on to other pending town business.

"We're at an impasse because she has to sign the contract," Hrbek said. "I saw the benefits of Westwood's proposal and believed it would work. However, you need everybody on board and we don't have that. So, life goes on."